History and Cell Phones

I finished up my previous post, having been called on an errand.  And, now I have a couple of more thoughts.

First, within the past few weeks it has been suggested that teaching history is "lost on young people."  I don't remember if those were anyone's exact words, but that was the sentiment.  One suggested that it's a "waste" to teach history to students, even high school students, that history shouldn't be taught until college.  I disagree, vehemently.  I might agree that the teaching of history has often been very poor teaching.  I don't think, though, that's a reason to not teach it.  It's not history or teaching it that's the problem; it's poor teachers.  I think I've written about how the discipline of history has been given short shrift, sort of second-class status.  "Anyone can teach history" is a mantra that has been heard from administrators for decades.  Principals assign a history class to anyone who needs an extra class to fill a schedule.  The all-important state tests (yes, I'm being facetious) including science, math, reading, and writing, but not history.  Why, then, should schools give history and its teaching the time of day?  But, how many students never "get" math?  Should we stop teaching it if, in effect, it is "lost" on them?  Is it a "waste" if so many, self-admittedly even as adults, "don't get it?" Who would argue that we should not teach math?  For that matter, science is often the same "Greek" to some folks.  Stop teaching science?  The solution is, among other things, to know how to teach history.  That includes finding teachers who really know history.  Far too many college graduates today, even history majors, really don't know history.  We also have to do a better job with textbooks.  For many reasons, they are often far too bland, too vanilla.  And more......

Cell phones?  One of my buddies today had to return to the Coney Island Restaurant later to retrieve his forgotten cell phone.  I've been thinking about cell phones the past few days.  Of course, those who know me know my views toward cell phones.  There's a special place in Hell for the guy who invented them.  OK, that's a bit harsh and it's no more his fault about the misuse of cell phones than it is Alfred Nobel's fault that dynamite has been used so destructively.  (At least, on a guilt trip, Nobel left money for the Nobel Prizes.)  But I noticed two other things about cell phones, although my perceptions might be off base.  I seem to hear a lot of people speaking quite angrily into their cell phones.  That is, they seem to be having angry conversations, either with the person on the other end or angrily explaining some other incident to the person on the other end.  I wonder if this leads us to allow our anger to fester, to grow.  We don't let anger go.  And, does that then lead to further, maybe bigger problems?  I don't know.  Also, it seems to me that cell phones, at least possessing them, gives people a sense of accomplishment.  It as if having a cell phone is evidence that the owner has really done something of importance.  Now, of course, owning a cell phone doesn't make one "cool" and is certainly not anything of accomplishment.  "Hey, I have a 3.5 GPA!"  "Hey, I finished a marathon!"  "Hey, I rewired my own house!"  "Hey, I saved a life!"  "Hey, I have a cell phone!"  Again, I don't know, but I don't think I'm too far off base on either of these thoughts.